The Doug Ryder Reports

Chapter 14: Being A Compleat and Full Accounting of Our Exploration of the Two Rivers Ski Trails

We went exploring up and around behind Two Rivers school this week. There were about twelve of us all told for this excursion through and around the ski trail system behind the school. We got going and left the parking lot at the ususal Doug Ride time (just after 7:30) with the usual Doug Ride organization.

The first thing we did was go up through the entrance into the trail system and then promptly got lost (sort of). After wending and winding our way up through the trails, we finally figured out where we were (sort of). During this climb we discussed the issue geeks, dorks, nerds, and dweebs and how they rank amongst each other. We didn’t resolve that issue, but finally did come out at the road above the ski trail system.

From there it was a boring mile-and-a-half climb up the road to the trailhead up at the top. We stayed together for most of it, and sort of got strung out a little, but not too badly. When we got up there, someone wondered where the stench of rotting flesh was coming from (more about that later) then we reformed and took off down the trail in a fun, fast, technical descent down back to the bottom. I brought up the caboose for that descent. Down at the bottom, someone had dumped a bunch of dirt on the trail. We took the other fork, which immediately dead-ended right down the hill, forcing us to return back to the dirt pile, port our bikes over same, and come out on the road.

Once we got down to the bottom, we decided to do the trail again, so we climbed back up the road to the top. There we found the source of that rotten stench: some extremely deceased moose down by the side of the road, evidently a victim of an encounter with a car. Now it is maggot feed. Anyway, we did the descent, came out on the bottom, and then took off back down the ski trail system.

We got lost again and whilst going down some side trail in search of the rest of the trail system, one of our riders (Eric) wiped out kind of spectacularily. I was right behind him when he wiped out. He was coming down the trail and a low-hanging branch grabbed him off his bike, which then continued without him for a bit. He however landed and rolled rather gracefully, I thought. While he was picking himself up, the rest of the group stopped to see what was going on. The two Toms (Moyer having joined us late, he drove his truck up to the top of the hill and met up with us there the first time we climbed the hill), ran into each other (I don’t remember who hit who, but both of them ended up on the ground, little worse for the wear). So anyway, we were lost and had to backtrack up to the main trail junction.

From there it was a fun, fast, technical descent down the roller-coaster of that trail system all the way back to the cars. We had to do some fancy riding around some deadfalls, low-hanging trees, etc. However we made it back to the cars in one piece (more or less).

Total riding time: around an hour and a half. Total distance covered: a little over nine miles. Amount of time spent pushing the bikes: maybe two minutes at the very top of the hill. Percentage of time having fun: greater than 95.

That’s my report for this week. See ya next week!

Liam Wescott

a/k/a The Doug Ryder

FCC Historian